In this image released by Disney, Miley Cyrus from the Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" poses with Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in... (AP Photo/Disney, Garth Vaughan)

(Newser)
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Disney World hasn't been paying all its employees minimum wage, an investigation by the US Department of Labor has found. Theme park employees who play Mickey and other Disney characters saw a "uniform or 'costume' expense" deducted from their paychecks, causing some of those workers' hourly rates to fall below federal minimum wage, the DoL says.

While it is legal for an employer to require an employee to pay for his or her own uniform, the employee must still be making minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour, after that cost is taken into account. Disney has agreed to pay out $3.8 million in back wages to 16,339 of its employees, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The DoL says Disney World also required employees to perform duties before and after their shifts for which they were not compensated.

After what Disney did last year with outsourcing their employees, I do not understand why anyone would support them.

PJfromNJ

Mar 21, 2017 7:02 AM CDT

I would not be so surprised by the uniform charge if they were referring to the ride operators, store clerks, concession workers, etc. I am assuming that after their employment with Disney is over, they get to keep them (for what it's worth). BUT, can you imagine that those who play Mickey, Minnie, Snow White, Cinderella........ being allowed to take their uniform with them when it's over???? There is absolutely no way Disney would let that happen. Still for those that can land the roles, they put up with it because many are actors and dancers, and working at Disney in such a capacity is good for their resume.